Category Archives: Writing

I Like My Sleeves

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PhreakShowSubmissionsChart

Because I love charts and data and spreadsheets.

Also because, why the hell not? Transparency is a trait of mine.

Sometimes that characteristic gets me in trouble, but it is an undeniable part of me. Often, I’m told, it is refreshing. Either way, it’s who I am. And I am a proud phreak who has learned to be comfortable in his own skin.

I wear my heart on my sleeve. I’ve thought of maybe changing to metaphorical tank tops—-or even going shirtless. Alas, I like my sleeves, and I like to leave my vulnerability dangling out there for everyone to see and prod. So, yeah. I feel better now. Huzzah for catharsis via confessional graphics.

If you’re feeling like, perhaps, there is more to the story, you are correct. Sometimes, even transparency has is limits, and a little opacity is required. If you’re reading this Invisible Ink, I ❤ your face. Wear your hearts on your sleeves, you bunch of phreaks. 

Agents Stalk Us Too

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SneakyBurglar

All querying writers research potential agents.
Oh? You don’t? tsk tsk
What a naughty, naughty writer.

Submission guidelines and genre preferences are important, but we should totally research, investigate, and weigh our findings against our own personality and professional goals. By learning as much as we can, writers can focus our search on lit agents who would truly make a great fit. There is a lot more to an Author/Agent relationship than simply querying and finding rep. We’re entering into a business partnership. We’re committing to what hopefully will be an LTR. Sure, agents choose wisely. But the writer must also choose that potential partner carefully.

Agency websites give an overview, but they don’t provide the whole picture.  We are responsible for digging deeper: interviews, current clients’ websites, recent deals, rights’ management experience, Twitter feeds, interns’ blogs, etc. Writers can’t just scratch the surface and call it a day. I mean, we can, but if we do, we’re stupid. We should discover all we possibly can and connect the dots. Read between the lines. Make an informed judgment which goes beyond, “OMFG! S/he likes [x]. I write [x]. S/he’s open to submissions. Must.query.now.”

We believe most agents research potential clients, right? Recently I discovered this is, indeed, not an urban legend. It is truth. You know how we writers joke about stalking agents online? Well, the road runs both ways. And I’m not just talking about agents checking out blogs/websites and Twitter feeds. If an agent has genuine interest, that fact-finding can expand into indepth, hardcore, hours-long, all-hands-on-deck, digital tunneling, Googling, and breadcrumb following.

Recently, an agent mentioned a part of my web presence which I had totally forgotten about—Authonomy. I posted portions of my first two novels on the site, but Phreak Show doesn’t even exist over there. This agent also mentioned online info which has nothing to do with my writing—business websites, for instance. It didn’t creep me out or make me nervous. What it did do, was enlighten me to the fact that a great agent will be concerned about an author’s public image beyond just his/her writing. A great agent will look for anything and everything a potential reader or publisher could find.

A great agent will stalk you. 

–

Sobering? Scary? Are you ready for that? How long has it been since you Googled yourself?

When the Sky Catches Fire

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borealis1

Apologies in advance. This post may end up completely disjointed with random junk plotted all over the map. There are two distinct things I’d like to wax poetic about, but (for reasons) I cannot. There are interested parties on two completely different fronts, fighting unconnected battles, which would skin me alive if I revealed recent troop movements or laid bare their battle plans.

Thus, this post will be encrypted: shot full with trickery holes, truths disguised as musings, vagueness muddying up the core ideas, red herrings squirming in the mix for good measure. Hopefully, it feels personal, yet mysteriously so. You may even feel you know what the words are hinting at. You may be right. You may be wrong. That’s the thing with ambiguity, it often tricks us into jumping to conclusions or seeing ourselves reflected. But, often, it is merely a trick of the light. Don’t fall victim to its whispers. Instead, merely float with me in the randomness of the aether.

For years now, I’ve wanted to go to Iceland. I envision this nexus of elemental beauty: I’m relaxing in a steaming pool fed by a natural hot spring, there is cold, pure-white snow on the ground, the Northern Lights are twisting like dancing ribbons above my head. It’s so utterly quiet. My breathing is the only sound. I have never experienced this in real life, with the heavens all aflame. But, someday, I will. This past Thursday, the sun propelled a solar flare in Earth’s direction. Tonight, there’s a chance I will see the aurora borealis pirouetting above my head. I’m right on the line of a “good” and “fair” chance. I can’t control whether the clouds block my view. All I can do is stand outside at 8 p.m., gaze upward, and hope the sky ignites with purples and greens.

I’m positive I’ve tweeted this in the past, and I’m pretty sure I’ve couched it within a previous post. I love the stacatto line in Jay Brannan’s The State of Music: “If I don’t know who I am, everyone will tell me.” I’ve never had much of a problem with knowing who I am. That doesn’t mean I’ve always fit in. Usually the opposite has proven true. Being both creative and stubborn doesn’t sit well with everyone. My belief is that it unnerves the more square among us. They sense something alive and powerful, perhaps something they do not have, and they fear it. Or envy it. But those who appreciate such a combination–normally because they nurture the same within themselves–are my instant companions. Those shining souls are who I choose to surround myself with. The more sparkly and full of  twisted, beautiful vision, the better.

It’s real easy to say, “I want a pony.” I suppose some folks get ponies all the time. Some people have to build bigger stables to hold them all. Over the course of my life, I have had a Shetland or two tied to the hitching post, but mostly I’ve been content to live without something  so frivolous. Every pony I’ve ever had came to me because I went out and lassoed the little fucker with my very own rope. In recent weeks I have been responsible for making others’ pony dreams come true. And they want flying ponies one day, then invisible ones the next. There is a lot of work in the finding, the research, the negotiation, the transport, the boarding, the continual care, the loving. Yeah, it’s real easy for some folks to say, “I want a pony”, and then have that baby horse magically appear. The thing about ponies like that is, they are so easily forgotten and neglected. And the cute little ponies always grow up.

I like to follow breadcrumbs. They can be digital, or mental, or physical; I’m not picky. I enjoy connecting the dots, following the string, reading the signs. Sometimes, I end up dead-wrong and utterly lost. That’s okay. Because, other times, I find the treasure.

Beyond Iceland, I have a long list of things I will do. Hang-gliding is one of them. I’ve checked skydiving, bungeeing, and ultra-lite flying off my list. I was so close to hang-gliding 2 summers ago. As part of a vacation where we made the journey the actual trip, a gliding experience was one of the scheduled stops. All was set. I would leap off a Tennessee cliff with an instructor at my side. The day before, he let me know that the wind forecast looked adverse, but he’d keep his eyes on it and let me know. Later that night, he broke my heart. The wind was going to be strong–which was good. But it was blowing sheer to the face–which was bad. The jump was cancelled. So my companions and I trucked onward to Hiddenite, NC and sluiced for emeralds and sapphires instead. I still want to hang-glide. Soon. But  right now, I can go open a little velvet bag and pour out the most amazing collection of semi-precious stones that I sluiced from a cold creek.

—

Well, that ought to be enough ambiguous story time for one day. I have gems to find, ponies to lasso, and flammable skies to [perhaps] bask in.

borealis2

If you’re wondering, only 1/4 of this is in anyway connected to the writing slice of my world. PRO TIP: Out in Twitterland, or on Facebook, here are two secret cues you can use to know that something awesome [but unspeakable] is going down on the writing front. 1. If you see this: *things*, then yeah, that’s referring to mega-cool writing shit. 2. If I tweet or post the song “Lucas With the Lid Off”, then you know some kind of amazing has landed. Follow the breadcrumbs. Or the dancing ribbons. Or the white rabbit. Or whatever.

All-Powerful Psycho Hairdressers

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HairSalon

The temperature crept above freezing ’round these parts over the last couple days. Naturally, that translates to: cut off all your hair. Well, not all of it, but enough to regret the move if the frost returns. Ahhh, but such impulses maketh me happy.

I picked a good time to hit the walk-in salon. 2 stylists + 0 customers = no waiting.

However, the joint was quiet. So, obviously, it became my personal mission to entertain the tri-toned coiffured ladies. My hair-cuttin’ girl kicked things off with the old standby, “So, do you have any plans for the evening?” We chatted a bit about taxes and other mundane things, then the buzz of the trimmers filled the air again. The snip-snip of the scissors got my mind cranking, and I suddenly found myself writing a story about this pair of everyday Hair Technicians in their facade-of-a-salon.

Ahhh, but I couldn’t do that all alone. I needed to entertain them. Also, I needed their help. So I pitched the rough-shod inkling of an idea that was secretly sprouting in my brainmeat.

“I write, and I’m totally brainstorming some ideas about you two right now.”

The scissors stopped snipping. Highly tweezed eyebrows arched in the reflection.

“Y’all help me out. Let’s pretend this whole salon thing is just a front. You’re really like super-powerful beings, and these are merely your public personas. What special powers or crazy-ass gifts would a stylist possess and have to hide from the unsuspecting clients?”

Now, the whole scenario could have arced out in a lot of different ways: scissors driven deeply into my neck because I guessed their secret, wary stiff-arm clipping resulting in the worst haircut ever, a call for the strip-mall security to swing by and haul the weird writer out of there. But, the bored hair-artists perked up and played along. We laughed and dreamed up ridiculously fantastical alter-egos for the two of them. We cast the “weird dude that comes in for a haircut every week” as the evil nemesis who is trying to thwart the uber-stylists’ plans for world domination.

Other characters developed based on Mikki & Tabitha’s peeves when it comes to clients. Moms who let their unruly, feral kids flail and roll all over the salon. Moms who get all up in their business and scissor-block while the ladies are trying to cut their little darlings’ hair. Creepy, old perverted dudes who tell dirty jokes and move their hands a little too much beneath their covering smocks.

All-in-all, the most entertaining haircut I’ve ever received. Not too shabby an experience for the ladies either.

Now, I doubt I’ll ever write the story we dreamed up. But, it was great fun to have M & T to shuck off their boredom and play along for a bit. Also, I got an amazing early-Spring hairdo. Thanks, Mikki. I won’t tell a soul about the truly wicked power hidden inside your unassuming, cosmetologist hands.

Phreak Show Idiolect Glossary

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The pulleys and gears in the gadget known as “SPELL-CHECK” kinked up and ground to a halt when encountering a number of colloquialisms and lexiconical creations in the novel Phreak Show. In many cases, the words are clearly part of the modern vernacular, yet they were summarily rejected. As a result, The Council of Indispensable Words has compiled this Phreak Show Idiolect Glossary

aether – n. ever-present ionized vapor; materializes as a purple-green borealis similar to the Northern Lights; can be harnessed as a sustainable energy source; a select few, known as MAESTROS, can wield its power
aint – v. [slang] is not; spoken by the uneducated, or by the educated for dramatic effect
amazeballs – adj. [slang] amazing or phenomenal
b.o. – n. [abbreviation] body odor
batshit – adj. [origin unknown] ridiculously; unbelievably; often paired with “crazy”
bazillionaire – n. person possessing a ridiculous amount of wealth
blimping – v. swelling; quickly filling with air or matter
blipping – n. this stupid, jacked up, empathy thing which totally effs up Tera’s life
blippo – n. mispronunciation of BLIPPING
boyband hair – adj. longish-shortish, perfectly styled tresses
braniac – n. extremely intelligent person; prone to using perspicacious words
butthurt – adj. [condescending phrase] whiny or overly defensive response to a petty issue
carnies – n. [derogatory] carnival performers and those of their ilk; stereotyped as uneducated, unscrupulous characters with more criminal convictions than teeth
clanky – adj. emitting a sharp, rattling, mechanical sound
cooch – n. [slang] a lady’s nether regions; term used by cads and trollops
cooze – n. [derogatory] combination of “cootie” and “ooze”; a mean person, usually female
creepo – adj. creepy; weird
crossgender – adj. expressing gender outside the binary terms of male and female
dollbaby – n. [origin: older southern women] baby doll; may refer to child’s toy or a cute boy or girl resembling such a toy
dookied – v. doo-dooed
eeking – v. squeezing out a painfully small amount at a time
effed, effin, effed-up – adj. or v. [diet cusswords] non-vulgar forms of the base word “f%@#”
fatgirl – n. self-effacing term for an overweight girl
fatsuit – n. a greasy covering of globs of fat and cellulite
fishbelly – n. or adj. pale and tender skin; similar to the soft belly of a fish
flippin – adj. [diet cussword] see: EFFIN
framing – n. the correct term for BLIPPING; power wielded by a MAESTRO in which he or she manipulates the AETHER to both experience and physically manifest another person’s inner faults and fears
freakmeister – n. master of freaks
ghettomobile – n. see: HOOPTY
gig – v. [southern U.S. origin] give someone the finger; flip the bird; one finger salute
glowsticks – n. plastic cylinders that contain two liquids that temporarily create light using chemiluminescence
hoopty – n. automobile in an unattractive, depressing state of repair; identified by continual breakdowns, rust, a horrible half-done paintjob, patches of duct tape, etc.
hottie – n. a sexually attractive person
inkroom – n. private room in a tattoo parlor designated for tattooing
janky, janked-up – adj. messed up; out of whack; twisted
jerkhole – n. [diet cussword] a jerk; non-vulgar version of the word “a$$hole”
kajillion – adj. a hell of a lot; an almost infinite number
lurve – v. [slang] decidedly feminine way of expressing the word “love”
manipulatory – adj. controlling by artful, unfair, or insidious means
microcephalic – n. or adj. neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by a tiny head; microcephalics were sometimes sold to freak shows in the 19th and early 20th centuries, where they were known by the name “pinheads”
muncher – n. one who places his or her mouth upon an object in a munching fashion
muumuued – adj. dressed in a loose-fitting garment of floral-print polyester; rarely found outside the female, octogenarian population
nerdfighter – n. person who is proud to be nerdy and intelligent, and fights to increase awesome and decrease Worldsuck
nerdtime – n. celebration of cerebrality
nooner – n. mid-day teaser performance of The Last American Phreak Show
normals – n. see: RUBES
nutjob – n. [term of endearment] goofy, funny, silly, crazy person; [derogatory] psychopath
ooey – adj. viscid; sticky
orgasmically – adv. happening in a pleasurable or rapturous manner
pecs – n. pectoralis muscles; firm, sexy chest muscles on a male
perv – n. short for “pervert”; person who drools over or treats another in an unwelcome, sexual manner
pervy – adj. being a total PERV
phreak – n. member of a troupe of teen misfits enslaved in a sideshow by their warped self-images; anyone who has left the realm of the RUBES by embracing his or her inner phreakiness
phreakazoid – n. see: PHREAK
phreakiest, phreakified, phreakiness, phreakish, phreako, phreaky  – adj. of, resembling, or possessing the characteristics of a phreak
pipped – v. spoke in a high-pitched, annoyingly squeaky voice
pissy – adj. having the color, consistency, or smell of urine; a bad attitude
poofy – adj. overly puffy
puppetmaster – n. controlling person gifted with the power of persuasion through either mundane or magical means
razored – v. sliced; cut open in a quick, excruciating manner
rubes – n. outsiders; townies; those oblivious to the underlying mysteries and ways of the Phreak Show
sapiosexual – n. a form of sexual orientation characterized by a strong attraction to intelligence in others, often regardless of gender and/or conventional attractiveness
scooched – v. slid or scooted
scrogged – adj. messed up; jacked up; see: EFFED
sexyfied – adj. looking hot, desirable, and perhaps a little trampy
shammie – n. amazingly absorbent cotton cloth
showbill – n. flyer announcing an act or performance. adj. font or script used to advertise plays, carnivals, circuses, etc
showmaster – n. leader of a performing troupe in a carnival, circus, or sideshow; MAESTRO
showmom – n. mother who lives vicariously through her child by forcing him or her to extremes in public performance
shrimpy – adj. tiny; miniscule
Skinbook – n. low-brow name for the Versipilles
slenderfied – adj. skinny or thin
slickster – n. person who uses slippery words and circular reasoning to convince others; see: used car salesman
snarked – v. spoke with sarcasm, bile, or bite
spazzed – v. jerked, either physically or mentally,  in a spastic manner
squeed – v. [past-tense] produced a high-pitched, exuberant squeal of excitement
steampunk – n. subculture which explores the concept of retro-futurism; addresses what the past would look and be like if the future had happened sooner; often embraces a Victorian-era aesthetic meshed with modern technology
studly – adj. manly; possessing the characteristics of a virile male
swagged – adj. draped with cloth
tattooee – n. the brave soul receiving permanent ink rammed into his or her dermis
taxidermied – adj. post-living creature whose pelt has been tanned, stuffed, and mounted
tendriled – adj. resembling, or actually having, tendrils or tentacles
toadie – n. a bad guy’s lame sidekick; see: “A Christmas Story”
uncatalogued – adj. absent from official records; see: THIS ENTIRE GLOSSARY
unibrow – n. one continuous eyebrow instead of two distinct ones; easily remedied by shaving or waxing
Versipilles – n. an ancient book bound in human skin; contains arcane knowledge about alchemy, cosmology, science, botany, magic, and other esoteric topics
wang – n. a gentleman’s nether regions; the fifth limb; term used by strumpets and scoundrels
weirdos – n. misfits, phreaks, oddballs; individuals who are misunderstood and/or judged for their uniqueness
whackjob – n. see: NUTJOB
wooting – v. hootin’ and hollerin’
yada – n. nothing of importance; usually spoken in repetition; similar to “blah”

 Wow, this took a shit-ton of work to create. But, in the end, I hope you find it useful as an interesting translation tool.

Compendium of Synopsis Writing Wisdom

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LucasCompendium

I am not a synopsis guru, nor the son of one.
But a few agents in my god-tier require them.

So, I am posed with the choice:
A) Whine & lazily avoid composing a synopsis, thus eliminating any chance of representation by those amazing agents – OR –
B) Research, work hard, and enjoy the synopsis element of a process which will help me see my publishing goals realized.

Last night, I chose Option B. I whipped out a damn good synopsis in about two hours. The process went uber-smoothly compared to my attempts with previous novels, and I believe I know why. I may draw friendly fire for this next statement…

If you find it difficult to summarize your story in synopsis form,
your story may be inherently flawed.

Once again, I am no guru, but a synopsis is basically an outline of your novel in paragraph form. If that outline is not clear, if the quintessential arc is more of a wriggly squiggle, if the tension doesn’t mount until cresting at a point of inevitable release–then, perhaps, you have discovered the reason a synopsis seems insufferable.

Of course, none of us deals with issues such as those…

So, what to do if you’re positive your story is as strong as it can be, yet the synopsis is still kicking your ass? Well, quit whining and make it happen! Also, research. There are tons of how-to guides and advice articles to scoot you on your way. Congealing & gleaning highlights from a few of these, I will add my non-guru voice to the chorus.

Lucas’s Compendium of Synopsis Writing Wisdom

– First, there are no hard & fast rules, but a few guidelines can make synopsis creation easier.

– Before you dive in, keep the touchpoints of motivation, emotion, and conflict in the forefront of your mind.

– Write in third-person, present-tense.

– The standard synopsis length seems to be 1-2 pages. Squeeze it into 1 short page if possible.

– Use strong verbs and adjectives (not too many!) to effectively express the plot points in the fewest words possible.

– Hit these key points: Hook, Stakes, Intro of the MC, Inciting Incident, Midpoint Twist, Climax, Resolution. (Some sources suggest allotting a single paragraph to each of these elements.)

– Ensure your characters are presented with personality and come across as sympathetic.

– An economy of words is key. Only include the true essentials. Wisely select only the most necessary of subplots–if any.

– Yes, the synopsis should give away the ending.

– The writing shouldn’t be flowery, but shouldn’t bore the poor agent/editor to tears either. Strike a balance somewhere between a technical manual and a book report.

– Just as with a novel or query, revise, revise, revise.

– Run your synopsis by your betas & CPs. Ask them to point out clarity issues or extraneous info.

– Embrace the process. Dreading and whining will only make it harder.

– Keep your end goal in mind! Compared to drafting & revising an entire novel, creating the synopsis is a straight-up, cupcake endeavor.

I couldn’t see it before, but now I totally understand why some agents require a synopsis. By comparing the end result of my latest attempt with previous ones, I can clearly see the strengths in my current story. I didn’t stumble over defining the essential stakes, core conflicts, etc. These items rang out crystal clear. And, so, I draw the conclusion that this novel is far tighter than my previous ones, and contains the elements a great, marketable novel should.

But hey, what do I know? Like I said, I aint no guru.

Nevertheless, the creation of this synopsis didn’t hurt. Not even a tiny bit. Maybe my Compendium will help your process flow along as smooth as silk.

Synopsis-hungry god-tier agents, here I come.

 

What say ye? Do you avoid querying agents who require a synopsis? Does the mere thought of synopsis writing make you cringe? Have you found a structure which works for you? What tips would you pass on to fellow writers?

Pitch Madness vs The God Tier

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god-tier

Phreak Show is having it’s coming out party. Maybe.

Hot off the presses, it’s up for the grabby hands of the self-identified Slush Zombies over at #PitchMadness. If you’re oblivious, check it out here:  http://brenleedrake.blogspot.com/

The announcements for the pitches which level-up to Round 2 won’t be made until 3/26. In the meantime, I’ll query an EXTREMELY small selection of god-tier agents. I’m doing a short-window-exclusive-of-sorts during this time. Then, should the need arise, I will step down to the next rung of the Echeladder. [If you get the god-tier & Echeladder references, I totally heart your face.] Also, there is this magical nexus where PM & the GT converge…

For more info on Phreak Show:

  • Check out it’s dedicated tab right here on the blog.
  • Like its Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/PhreakShowNovel
  • Peruse its Pinterest Boards: http://pinterest.com/gypsyluc/
  • Peep in on the #PhreakShow hashtag.

Peeling Back Phreak Show’s Skin

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Civer - Phrenology

Finally, Phreak Show is done!

Its creation veered off the usual path I take when writing a novel. Which, I kind of liked. I’m a creature of habit. Not OCD level, but I prefer clear plans, order, and steady movement towards the goals I set. I’m an outliner, a spreadsheet junkie, a list maker. I like to track things and see their progress over time.

All of those tools (and a few more) were involved in the making of Phreak Show, but the process didn’t move swiftly from A to B. Leave it to the phreaky story to be the one to shuck my norm.

Since I like to track things…Here’s a breakdown of the process I used this time around and how it strayed. For the hell of it (because such things make me happy) I’ll use a pair of symbols to denote which components are [N]ormal for my process, and which ones are a little [P]hreaky. And, yes, I’m busting out the bullet points.

  • [N] Idea – A line, a character, a conflict. I kick it around in my head. Weigh it for worthiness & flesh it out while showering, driving, falling to sleep. I may scribble down a few gems so I don’t forget them, but it’s mainly a mental process. For PS, it was the setting of a Sideshow with teenage freaks being enslaved by their own warped self-images, and having those personal fears manifested in physical form.
  • [P] Tagline -In the past, boiling the story down to a single line has been a hellish project which comes after the novel is complete. With PS, it punched me in the face very early in the process. Being a phreak isn’t about looks, it’s a frame of mind.
  • [P] Plotting – I go hard and detailed on this aspect. I don’t play. For PS, I used some elements as usual, but wielded them differently. I added some new steps. I use OneNote to organize ideas, settings, characters, specific lines. I drop in links and tidbits found during the research stage. This time, I didn’t copy & paste / type an official  outline in Word. I printed the OneNote pages, cut out the strips, and visually sorted and arranged them on my plotting wall. Also, I used 4-Part Story Structure as the framework. (<–This is a genius tool!) Everything fell into place like clockwork.
  • [P] Query Letter – I’m pretty good with them, I believe. But many, many wildly different versions are usually needed before I hone it down to the true, delectable meat of the story. Freeborn had at least 35 versions…With PS, I decided to write the query BEFORE drafting. Ummm, amazing way to do it. Reason: the basic concepts are vivid, but all the nitty-gritty goodness isn’t fleshed out yet. The process was streamlined because the writing jewels & subplots I’d be tempted to embellish the query with later, didn’t exist yet.
  • [P] Research – This is an [N], but it could have been a [P]. No, wait. I’m changing it. Definitely a [P]. I always research, but it’s usually 95% internet-based. This time involved a lot of that, of course, but it went to a deeper level. I read 2 non-fiction books on the history of the sideshow: Carny Folk: The World’s Weirdest Sideshow Acts & Freak Show: Presenting Human Oddities for Amusement and Profit. I also read Ray Bradbury’s Something Wicked This Way Comes. I remembered the movie (1983) from when I was a kid. Some of the imagery is burned in my skull. So, I wanted to be careful not to gank any of it–to make sure my ideas were my own. Two movies also gave me some great background: Tod Browning’s cult classic “Freaks”  (1932) and a documentary “Sideshow: Alive on the Inside”.  All of this gave me a feel for the imagery, terminology & world. But, it also provided an added layer that became key to Phreak Show: the emotions & motivations of real-life sideshow performers in their heyday. Golden. Absolutely golden.
  • [P] Bonus Features – Phreak Show got pimped out in this department. There is the mandatory Facebook Page: www.facebook.com/PhreakShowNovel. With 9 dedicated Boards, Pinterest played a huge part in image collection this time: http://pinterest.com/gypsyluc/. The one I’m most proud of contains a set of Victorian Cabinet Cards I created just for the characters: http://pinterest.com/gypsyluc/phreak-show-cast-steampunk/ [I still owe Douggie his…]
  • [P] Drafting – Usually, this is hardcore, front-to-back, full-tilt, beginning-to-end with no pauses in between. PS came in 5 major spurts. I hammered out the first 2 pages so I could share them at an SCBWI conference. (Rave reviews!) Then I paused again, waiting for NaNoWriMo to begin. After NaNo, the hiatus between sections 2 & 3 was six weeks long. I can’t really explain the reason why that happened. I never lost the passion for the story, but simply needed it to chill, and rest, and mellow. Or something. Idk? This was a new one for me. Then, with the story so close to done I could taste it, I stopped short of the final two chapters. It was uber-important that I got them right. The first time. Those two chapters took about 10 days to draft, which is insanely slow for me. Alas, the outcome convinces me it was well worth slowing the pace and nailing the perfect ending.
  • [P] Revision – I always edit little bits and pieces as I go. You know, read back over the previous section to keep the continuity and voice. Because of the lulls in drafting, I edited each section piece-by-piece. That was part of the holding pattern at the end of Chapter 23. I completely revised the whole thing–looking for holes, resolving dangling things, building the tension, back-filling, cross-checking, characterization, removing ridiculousness–before drafting those final two chapters. I will make a few more passes to double-check everything and make sure, but any further changes are merely cosmetic, obsessive tweaking.

So there you have it. Probably waaay more details about my process than you ever cared to know. When I look at that list, I see all but one [P]. That tells me that my process changed drastically from Freeborn to Phreak Show. I predict that this will translate into a much different outcome for Phreak Show, as well.

I know that once a new novel is complete, we all think THIS IS THE ONE! And, perhaps, that’s where Phreak Show stands. But, if I’m honest with myself: I know better. Laugh if you like, but this is, I strongly believe, the one. Not only am I uber-organized, but I’m also an excellent student. I learned so much from my first two novels. All that ‘practice’, the successes & failures, the things I did correctly & the dumbass mistakes I made–I channeled the lessons learned & wisdom gained into the creation of Phreak Show.

The contentment I feel isn’t merely about having completed my third novel. It is about this one, finally, being worthy of signing my name to it. And, time will time, maybe even signing my name on a contract.

“If you judge them by appearance alone, you will miss the truth buried beneath their skin, behind their wet eyes. A truth which, if you dare search it out, lurks within your own heart. Being a phreak isn’t about looks. It’s a frame of mind.”